Archive May 22, 2025

Peter Obi, a politician and former governor of Anambra State, has criticized the Federal Government for fabricating a N7 trillion budget fraud claim that BudgIT recently exposed.

The civic-tech organization that promotes budget accountability and transparency in Nigeria and other African nations announced on Tuesday that it had found 11, 122 projects totaling N6.93 trillion that the National Assembly had inserted into the national budget for 2025.

The figure, according to an 18-page report released by the organization on Tuesday, represents 12.5% of the N54.99 trillion budget, which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed into law on February 28.

A thorough analysis of the BudgIT report revealed that 238 projects, totaling N2.29 trillion, were inserted into the budget without much or no justification.

Additionally, a budget that included 119 projects in the N1 billion and 94 projects in the N1.7 trillion range, totaling N641.38 billion, was indiscriminately inserted into the budget, according to the report.

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In response to the report, Obi expressed his deep trouble and called Nigeria a “relentless scene of corruption.”

“Nigeria continues to be a corrupt country.” I have consistently argued that Nigeria must stop acting as a crime scene and be repositioned for real development in order for this nation to advance.

If there is going to be a significant change, “this deeply ingrained corruption must be nipped in the bud.” How else can we explain the troubling revelations made by BudgIT, which included a staggering $7 trillion in dubious projects for the 2025 national budget? I’m persuaded that this figure only accounts for a small portion of the actual misappropriation.

These findings confirm my long-held claim that we have turned our nation into a crime location. To effectively and effectively manage our resources, we must urgently and systematically combat corruption, misappropriation, and fiscal recklessness, and invest in essential development areas like education, health, and lifting our people out of poverty.

The 7 trillion discovered as being duped into the 2025 budget is even greater than the combined budgets for the ministries of agriculture, human rights, and health, which are essential to the development of the country.

The politician listed each ministry’s 2025 federal allocation, noting that the total amounts were still below the alleged N7tn, which was also inserted.

To be precise, the Ministry of Education received 3.55 trillion, the Ministry of Health received 2.48 trillion, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation received 260 billion, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security received 636.08 billion. These four ministries received a total of $6.896 trillion, which is an already exaggerated sum, but it is still below the $7 trillion budget-dubiously injected figure.

At a time when Nigeria is among the most terrorized countries in the world, “that is even more than the 6.1 trillion allocated to national security.”

Obi questioned why the federal government would not instead invest in vital sectors like agriculture, healthcare, and education, describing the action as “brazen impunity” by political leaders.

“The country cannot invest adequately in education, which is why there are nearly 20 million children who are not in school,” according to our leaders. The corruption that has harmed primary healthcare has led to alarming numbers of malnourished children. Our leaders ignore agricultural investment because of persistent mismanagement and a lack of accountability, despite the widespread hunger we experience.

Some leaders in Nigeria have lost touch with the reality of the poor, according to former president Sam Adeyemi, who has lamented the country’s leaders’ lack of empathy and compassion.

Adeyemi, who serves as Daystar Christian Centre’s senior pastor, was a guest on Thursday’s Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily program.

The cleric claimed that these leaders are now more focused on ensuring the people’s lives are better than improving theirs because they are now finding it difficult to guide the populace in the right direction.

He claims that the fear of losing control also contributes to the political party cross-party politics trend.

According to Adeyemi, “some of our leaders have lost touch with the reality of the poor, they have no empathy, no compassion,” it is even obvious from their words. We want to foster a climate in which those in charge can take the right steps and make the right choices.

Some of them are defrauding because they fear losing their next election. Thus, it is threatened that they will survive.

powerful godfathers

Adayemi claimed that political godfathers who do not choose their leaders in Nigeria are breeding leaders who are unable to discern reality.

He claimed that these leaders forget the people and become scandalous as they ascend to power.

“I wish we had the ideal scenario whereby citizens actually elected people, but we’ve seen the influence of the godfathers in our politics over time. Over the years, they have cultivated a strong influence.

According to the most recent international payment data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Federal Government paid 50% more for external debt servicing annually.

In contrast to the $ 1.33 billion recorded during the same time period in 2024, the data shows that Nigeria repaid its external debt by about $ 2.01 billion between January and April 2025.

Debt servicing alone made up 77% of Nigeria’s total international payments in the first four months, a significant increase from the 64.5 percent share recorded in the same period in 2024.

As of April 2025, the nation’s total international payments, which included debt service, remittances, and letters of credit, increased to $ 2.07 billion from $ 2.07bn from the previous period of 2024.

During the review period, Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves reportedly decreased by about $3 billion.

On a month-to-month basis, Nigeria paid $540.67m in January 2025 from $560.52m recorded in January 2024.

In February, the figure stood at $276.73m, almost unchanged from the $283.22m paid in February 2024.

However, the cost of debt increased by $ 623.2 million in March, more than double the $ 76.17 million that was paid the same month last year.

The upward trend continued in April, with a further $557.79 million repaid, a 159 percent increase over the $ 215.20 million paid in April 2024.

According to the data, the nation repaid nearly $1.2 billion in debt in March and April alone.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid the $3.4 billion in funding provided by the Rapid Financing Instrument to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic effects. In contrast to traditional IMF programs, the loan was one of the largest disbursements under the Rapid Financing Instrument on a global scale.

The Fund claimed that Christian Ebeke, the IMF’s résident representative for Nigeria, was responsible for the payment as of April 30th, 2025.

According to the IMF, “Nigeria has fully repaid the financial support of about $3.4 billion it requested and received in April 2020 from the International Monetary Fund in order to help alleviate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp decline in oil prices.”

The loan, which was approved in April 2020, was intended to assist Nigeria in reversing the effects of the pandemic, including the sharp drop in oil prices, economic contraction, and fiscal pressures.

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Nigeria will continue to pay additional annual fees over the next few years in addition to the full payment of the principal due to the approximately $30 million Special Drawing Rights charges.